Towel with non-puckering decorative border



Feb. 16, 1965 v. a. HOLLAND ETAL 3,159,557

TOWEL WITH NON- ERING DECORATIVE BORDER Filed April 30, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 MERTON C. PROPST JR.

Feb. 16, 1965 v. B. HOLLAND ETAL 3,169,557

TOWEL WITH NON- ERING DECORATIVE BORDER Filed April 30, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TORS VICTOR B. HOLLAND ATTORNEYS MERTO/V c. PRO/D57) JR.

United States Patent 3,169,557 warn Ndhb ucnnnnso nnconn'rrwn nonnnn Victor Holland and Merton (I. Propst, 3n, Kannapolis,

N.C., nssignors to il'annon Midi; Qompany, a corporation of North @arolina Filed Apr. Ell, 19-53, Ser. No. 276,917 Claims. (Ql. 139-333) This invention relates to woven water absorptive textile fabrics having portions with different weave constructions which have different shrinkage characteristics when wet and which cause puckering or distortion of the fabric along the juncture of the two differently woven portions.

A commercially important example of fabric subject to puckering when wet is the well known terry towel having decorative borders adjacent the ends of the towel and utilizing d iierent weave constructions in the terry cloth body and in the decorative borders, respectively. When this type of towel is wet and the fibers swell, the overall length of the decorative border shrinks more than the length of the adjacent terry cloth on each side of the decorative border, and causes the terry cloth to pucker. This puclrering increases with repeated laundering.

The terry cloth portion of the towel normally employs a relatively simple weave in which the warp and filling yarns alternately cross over only one or two of each other. The usual swelling of these yarns will cause uniform shrinkage in either warp or filling direction in the main terry cloth portion, but definite objectionable puckering of the terry cloth does occur adjacent the decorative borders because of the different weave construction used in these borders. In the decorative border weave, one of the yarns, e.g. the filling yarn, crosses over and under a number of warp yarns, which are disposed in a group and which necessitates the filling yarn arching over the substantially larger aggregate of warp yarns.

Despite many prior attempts, this puckering problem has existed in the towel industry without any practical solution. For the first time, the present invention has solved the problem and prevents any appreciable puckering of the towel along the juncture of the terry cloth body and the decorative border. This long desired result has been accomplished without changing the terry cloth construction of the towel and without changing the weave pattern or construction of the decorative border.

We have found in accordance with the present invention, that the above mentioned puclrerin can be avoided by using in the border, a filling yarn in spiral or coiled form, which increases the effective length of the yarn by a substantial amount, such as for example 5%25% or more, after the cloth is woven. The spiraled or coiled yarn may be woven in the border as a filling yarn in regular manner and in substantially the same length as a conventional non-spiraled yarn. The original excess length of this yarn becomes useful and effective upon Wetting of the yarns, such as would be involved in laundering of the towel, by the coils or spirals in the yarn straightening out. This eilectively increases the length of the wet swollen filling yarn, and enables it to arch over the group of several warp yarns, without any undue contraction and accordingly without any puckering of the towel.

To enable the coiled or spiraled filling yarn to be woven satisfactorily in the decorative border, using conventional weaving equipment, a temporary core yarn is employed around which the filling yarn is coiled or spiraled, and the core yarn acts as a carrying medium for the spiraled filling yarn. The core yarn is made of a 3,169,557, Patented Feb. 16, 1965 ice suitable material which is easily removed by Wet processing of the woven fabric and preferably using the liquids or solutions, commonly employed in towel finishing. These liquids have a dissolving action on the core yarn without affecting the filling yarn which is spiraled or coiled around the core yarn. Illustrative but non-limiting examples of suitable core yarns which will serve this temporary purpose, are silk, wool, synthetic protein fiber, viscose, alginate, polyvinyl fiber, alkali soluble cellulosics, solvent-soluble cellulosics, cellulose acetate and carboxy methyl cellulose. Illustrative but non-limiting examples of liquids that may be used for effecting dissolving and removal of the core yarn, are water, steam, alkali, acetone, etc., which are chosen with respect to the type of fiber employed in the core yarn. Heating may be used if necessary. Examples or" the permanent spiraled yarn are cotton, viscose, nylon, acetate, polyester, etc.

For preparing the composite filling yarn having a temporary core yarn and a permanent coiled or spiraled filling yarn wound therearound, the two yarns may be twisted together in such a way that the temporary core yarn remains substantially straight and the other yarn is coiled or spiraled around the core yarn in a suitable manner to provide the necessary potential excess length.

The instrumentality which is employed in accordance with the present invention to avoid puclrering, namely a yarn having potential excess length, is normally used as the filling yarn in the border or strip having different shrinkage properties than the adjacent terry cloth portions of the towel. It is to be understood, however, that in other products and with other weave patte. is, the yarn with excess length may be employed as the warp yarn. This would be true, for example, in connection with the selvages of the terry cloth towels which are woven at right angles to the decorative border. The selvages tend to shrink more than the adjacent lengthwise portions of the t wel and cause a general distortion in the overall shape of the towelalong its length. Another example of a weave construction that would cause puckering is a decorative warp-wise stripe in a fabric.

The invention will be further understood from a consideration of the following more detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a towel of the prior art construction illustrating the pocketing along the decorative border due to different shrinkages of the border and the adjacent terry cloth portions.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a towel made in accordance with this invention, and in which the different shrinkage property of the decorative border is compensated to avoid puckering of the adjacent terry cloth portions.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of the warp yarns and filling yarns in outer edges of the decorative border of the prior construction of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of the warp yarns and filling yarns in the decorative border of the construction of this invention illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating how the composite yarn is twisted.

FIG. 6 is an elevational view showing the twisted composite yarn.

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the arrangement of the warp yarns and the composite twisted filling yarns before the decomposable core is removed, in a typical decorative border weave.

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic View of the weave construction shown in FIG. 7 after the decomposable core yarn is removed.

area,-

FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic illustration like FIG. 8 but showing a diii'erent weave construction for the decorative border.

Refer ing to PEG. 1, there is shown a towel it with a decorative border 11 made according to prior construction wh ch will cause puckering i2 when the towel has been subiected to a number of washings and dryings. As illustrated in FIG. 3, this decorative border comprises warp yarns 13 and filling yarns 14. In a decorative weave of this type the warp yarns 13 are bunched in groups and such bunches or groups are passed over by a filling yarn, thus giving the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3.

.Vhen the filling yearns 1d and warp yarns 13 of the prior construction of H68. 1 and 3 are wet, such as in laundering, they will swell and the diameters of the yarns are increased. The strains which have been set up in the fabric during weaving are released wnen the fabric is wet. The yarns push against each other, where they cross, as their diameters increase. In the prior construction of FIGS. 1 and 3, the bunches of warp yarns 13 are much larger than the filling yarns Thus when wet, the warp yarns 13 in the bundles will swell and tend to remai straight and the yarns i l will swell up and their arch will become higher to conform to the increased Volume of the yarns 13, thus causing the bundles to move closer to gether. This results in shrinkage and puckering up 12 in the transverse direction of the towel along the decorative border.

The construction of this invention, illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4, provides a coiled yarn 19 to be used as the filling yarn, along with bunches of warp yarn 16, for a decorative border 1? of a towel 13. This coiled yarn 15 can be used and woven into a cloth without disturbing or removing the coil. After the cloth has been woven, the core which has been holding the coil in the yarn can be removed. This removal makes available the additional yarn length which is required to prevent shrinkage and allow the filling yarn 1? to heighten its arch without pulling the warp yarns closer together to cause shrinkge and puckering. The yarn bundles 15 can expand without exerting pressure on the yarns i9 crossing them. Strains which were present in the cloth are similarly eliminated. Thus the bundles 16 are not drawn together and shrinkage does not occur.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, the coiling effect is obtained by spiraling the desired yarn around a core yarn, which is later destroyed. The two types of yarn are the permanent yarn 19, which remains in the cloth, and the soluble yarn 2b, which is soluble in or destroyed by some suitable chemical treatment given the cloth after weaving. The strength of the yarn 29 must be high enough to withstand all tensions it will be subjected to in twisting and weaving. This yarn 2% may be composed of one of the fibers described above, the selection of the specific fiber depending on the wet process to be used for its destruction.

The yarn 19 is coiled around the yarn 2%, to produce a composite yarn 21, by a two-roll twister 22, illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 5. The two-roll twister 22 comprises supply spool 23 for yarn 19, supply spool 24 for yarn 2Q, eyelet guides 25' for guiding the yarn 19 and the yarn 2t), idler rolls 26 covered with rubber 27, driven roll 28, idler roll 29 covered with rubber 30, driven roll 31, guide rods 32 and 33. The yarn 19 is led from supply spool 23 to two eyelet guides 25 around driven roll 28, over rubber covered idler roll 26 and over guide rods 32 and 33 to the conventional quill or bobbin (not shown). The yarn 29 is led from supply spool 24 through three eyelet guides 25 over rubber covered idler roll 29 and over rod guide 33 to a conventional quill or bobbin (not shown). Beneath guide rod 33, yarns 19 and 2% come together so as to be suitably twisted together.

The speeds of the driven rolls 2% and 31 are independently adjustable by any suitable means so that one roll can be made to turn faster than the other. The driven roll 253 is adjusted to rotate faster than the driven roll 0 that the yarn 1% may be fed faster than the yarn 29. This is necessary to obtain the coiling effect of the yarn 19 around the core yarn it, as may be seen in FIG. 6. Weaving with a. composite yarn 21 can be done using the usual weaving art, that is, to make sample and change a ,ustnients until the most attractive appear nce has been obtained. The percent of elongation necessary for the filling yarn 1.9 after the core yarn Ztl has been removed depends upon the type of filling yarn being used, and how the border containing this filling yarn will react to washing. T he percent of elongation or the amount that the yarn 19 may be extended after removal of the core yarn 2 3 is determined by two factors: (1) how fast the yarn is is fed in the twisting machine which will produce more or less s ira s of the yarn 19 around the core yarn 2! and (2) elo; on provided by the untwistinr of the ply yarn 19. This percent of elongation may be determined by the i liowing formula:

Percent E= E Where:

lercent E Percent elongation: the percent by which yarn 5.9 can be extended after the core yarn 24 is removed from composite yarn 21.

A isength of remaining permanent yarn: the extended length of yarn 19 after yarn 2'9 is removed from a given length or" composite yarn 21.

B=The length of the composite yarn 21 measured be fore removal of core yarn 26.

Percent E can be varied to be as high or as low as needed to overcome the amount of shrinkage which is to be overcome in a speciuc fabric to be made with the composite yarn I idany types of yarns may be used in this decorative border 17 of the towel 18 and three types of yarns for the composite yarn 21 will be given below.

EXAMPLE 1 Composite yarn 21 where yarn 19 is 20/2/2 cotton (1) Prepare yarn 1? (20/2/2 cotton):

(a) Obtain 20s/1 combed cotton yarn which has a twist of 16.85 turns per inch, 2 direction.

(5) Fly together 2 strands of this 20/ l yarn using 10.12 turns per inch, in the 8 direction. The ply yarn thus made is 20/2.

(c) Cable together 2 strands of this 20/2 yarn using 12.00 turns per inch, in the S direction. When two or more ply-yarns are twisted together the resulting yarn is called a cabled The yarn 19 resulting from this step is 20/ 2/2, meaning 2 strands of yarn number 20 singles have been twisted together to form yarn number 20, two ply; and 2 strands of this plied yarn have been twisted together to form the cabled yarn.

Carry out the twisting and cabling operations as drytwisting operations. This is important in obtaining the desired percent E in the composite yarn 21.

(2) Wind the 20/2/2 yarn 19 onto inch (inside diameter) cardboard tubes, making a package that wei hs about 2 pounds.

(3) Use 20/22 denier 3-thread raw silk, on spools, as the core yarn 2b.

(4) Load the yarn 1% and the yarn 2i? on the creel of the twister, and thread the twister. See FZGURE 5.

(5) Set the twister:

(a) Twist: l2.l8 turns per inch, Z direction (1;) Ratio of roll 28 to roll 31:1.009z1 (c) Traveler size must be determined for the particular set of rings on the twister. In this example, and the others, the traveler used was a Bowen square point, bevel edge, flange 3, circle 5,

(6) Run the twister. In this case the yarn 21 is to be used as filling, so the twister is a filling twister and winds the yarn on filling quills.

(7) The resulting composite yarn 21, produced by the above procedure, is such that, when the silk core is destroyed, the two strands of 20/ 2 will lie almost parallel in the fabric. This is true because the cable twist (3 direction, 12.00 turns per inch) was removed during operation 6, above. In operation 6 the twister untwisted the cable yarn as it was being spir-aled onto the silk core.

(8) Percent E obtained, from this composite yarn 21, is 12 to 13 on the average.

Abbreviations to be used in succeeding examples: T.p.i.=turns per inch I.D.=inside diameter EXAMPLE II Composite yarn 21 where yarn 19 is 20/ 3 cotton (1) Prepare yarn 19 (20/ 3 cotton):

(a) Obtain 20s/1 combed cotton yarn, with a twist of 16.85 t.p.i., 2 direction.

(b) Ply together 3 strands of this 20/1 yarn using 23.6 t.p.i., 8 direction. Carry out this operation as a dry twisting operation. The yarn 19, resulting, is 20/ 3 (yarn number 20, three ply).

(2) Wind this 20/ 3 yarn 19 onto inch ID. cardboard tubes, about 2 pounds of yarn to the tube.

(3) Use 20/22 denier 3-thread raw silk, on spools, as core yarn 20.

(4) Load these yarns 19 and 20 onto the creel of the twister, and thread the twister. See FIGURE 5.

(5) Set the twister:

(a) Twist: 12.18 t.p.i., 2 direction.

(2)) Ratio of roll 28 to roll 31:1.037zl (c) Traveler #18 Bowen square point, bevel edge, flange 3, circle 5.

(6) Run the twister. for use as filling.

(7) This composite yarn 21, when woven in fabric, and after the core is removed, w ll remain as 3 ply yarn type 19 with a ply twist of about 11-12 t.p.i., 8 direction.

(8) Percent E obtained, from this composite yarn 21, averages 13.5 to 14.5.

EXAMPLE 111 Composite yam 2] where yam 19 is 20/4 cotton (1) Prepare yarn 19 (20/4 cotton):

(a) Obtain 20s/1 combed cotton yarn, with a twist of 16.85 t.p.i., 2 direction.

(b) Ply together 4 strands of this 20/1 yarn using 18.81 t.p.i., 8 direction. Carry out as a dry twisting operation. The yarn 19, resulting, is 20/4 (yarn number 20, four ply).

(2) Wind this 20/4 yarn 19 onto inch ID. cardboard tubes, 2 pounds per tube.

(3) Use 20/22 denier 3-thread raw silk, on spools, as core yarn 251.

(4) Load these yarns 19 and 20 onto the creel of the twister, and thread the twister. See FIGURE 5.

(5) Set the twister:

(a) Twist: 12.18 t.p.i., 2 direction.

(1:) Ratio, roll 28 to roll 31:1.071z1 (c) Traveler #18 Bowen square point, bevel edge, flange 3, circle 5.

(6) Run the twister. for use as filling.

(7) This composite yarn 21, when woven in fabric, and after the core is removed, will remain as 4 ply yarn type 19 with a ply twist of about 4.5 to 5.5 t.p.i., 8 direction.

(8) Percent E obtained, from this composite yarn 21, averages l6-17.

In making composite yarn 21 it is important to check The yarn 21 is run onto quills The yarn 21 is wound onto quills average.

the tension to which it is subjected on the twister, between the bottom rod 33 and the quill or bobbin on the twister. The tension can be measured with a yarn tension meter. Tension should be kept below 70 grams when core yarn 20 is 20/22 denier B-thread raw silk. Preferably the tension should be about 50 grams on the If tension is too high the core yarn 20 may be permanently stretched, and percent E will consequently be too low. Select a traveler weight such that the optimum tension is obtained.

Woven towels such as 18, shown in FIG. 2, with borders made of any of the above yarns are pulled through a conventional continuous peroxide bleaching range (not shown) wherein the following treatments in sequence are applied to remove the core yarn:

#1. Hot water wash in slack washer. Water temp. 150 F., water flow rate 35 gallons per minute. Squeeze out excess water to approximately saturation.

#2. Pass towels into a saturator where it is impregnated with a 3.5% sodium hydroxide solution at a temperature of 135 F. On leaving the saturator, the towels are pulled through a set of squeeze rolls which reduce the degree of saturation to to #3. After leaving the saturator, the cloth is piled'into a J-box where it is steamed for 45 to 60 minutes at a temperature of 210 F. This is done in a continuous manner: as soon as the J-box is full, cloth is pulled from the exit or bottom at the same rate it enters at the top.

#4. Steaming in the J-box is followed by washing through two tandem Tensitrol washers with a water temperature of to F. and a water flow rate of approximately 80 gallons per minute. This hot Water wash can be accomplished by any conventional textile washer suitably designed to handle the fabric in question.

#5. Bleaching, dyeing and finishing processes follow to produce the desired product.

At FIG. 7 there may be seen diagrammaticdly a cross section of the decorative border of the towel 18 showing the composite yarn 21 before the core 2% is removed. The sodium hydroxide in Step #2 above, plus the heat applied in Step #3 above, completely solubilizes the silk core 26 from the composite yarn 21 in the towel border. This leaves only the cotton yarn 19 which has been cabled or spiraled around the core yarn 20 as is shown in FIG. 8. This cotton yarn 19, as shown in FIG. 8 still in its spirailed state, but without core, has the capacity to expand when the towel is washed, and subsequent swelling, of the warp yarns 16 in diameter due to the wetness, is occurring.

In FIG. 9 there is illustrated a different weave construction from that shown in FIG. 8, for the decorative border. As shown in FIG. 9, the weave pattern is somewhat more complicated, in that one coiled filling yarn passes under one non-coiled ground warp yarn then over seven non-coiled ground warp yarns and eight non-coiled pile warp yarns, as a group, and this sequence is repeated throughout the width of the fabric.

This invention also contemplates weave patterns in which a coiled filling yarn would pass alternately under and over a single warp yarn of greater size than the filling yarn and which would cause uneven shrinkage and puckering if a conventional non-coiled filling yarn were used.

The invention is described herein with particular reference to terry cloth towels having decorative borders because those products have created a major commercial problem, but it is to be understood that the principle involved in this invention may be applied to other types of towels and to other textile fabrics that employ two different weaves along strips, portions or sections of the product and which weaves have ditierent shrinking characteristics that cause the product to pucker along the junction of the two different weaves. The word towel as used in the specification and claims herein is intended to cover the products identified generally in the trade by this name, such as bath towels, face towels, kitchen towels, bath mats, etc, and which have a main body portion and a decorative border or borders adjacent the main body portion of a different weave construction than the main body portion.

This invention is not intended to be limited by the foregoing description or otherwise except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A water absorptive woven towel comprising a main body portion of terry cloth, and a decorative border adjacent each end of the towel, said towel being resistant to the efiects of different shrinkage and puckering along the juncture of the decorative borders and terry cloth portions, said decorative borders being woven with con ventional uncoiled warp yarns and coiled filling yarns having substantial excess length as woven, said coils being adapted to straighten without stretching and thereby increase the efiective length of the filling yarns to allow the towel to remain unafiected by diiferent shrinkage and puckering along the aforesaid juncture when the towel is wet.

2. A towel as defined in claim 1 and in which the coiled filling yarns in the decorative borders have a potential elongation, due to the coils, of approximately 5%- 25%.

3. A towel as defined in claim 1 and in which the yarns are cotton yarns.

4. A towel as defined in claim 1 and in which the coiled filling yarns extend over a group of the warp yarns in the woven structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,949,579 Parker Mar. 6, 1934 2,387,320 Foster Oct. 23, 1945 2,387,321 Haddad Oct. 23, 1945 2,587,117 Clay Feb. 26, 1952 2,632,230 Neisler hdar. 24, 1953 2,691,391 Jamison Get. 12, 1954 2,723,683 Fleischer et al Nov. 15, 1955 2,829,680 Roberts Apr. 8, 1958 2,831,235 Taylor Apr. 22, 1958 2,995,154 Seltzer Aug. 8, 1961 2,998,829 Horowitz Sept. 5, 1961 3,071,165 Truslow et al Jan. 1, 1963 

1. A WATER ABSORPTIVE WOVEN TOOL COMPRISING A MAIN BODY PORTION OF TERRY CLOTH, AND A DECORATIVE BORDER ADJACENT EACH END OF THE TOWEL, SAID TOWEL BEING RESISTANT TO THE EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SHRINKAGE AND PUCKERING ALONG THE JUNCTURE OF THE DECORATIVE BORDERS AND TERRY COLTH PORTIONS, SAID DECORATIVE BORDERS BEING WOVEN WITH CONVENTIONAL UNCOILED WARP YARNS AND COILED FITTING YARNS HAVING SUBSTANTIAL EXCESS LENGTH AS WOVEN, SAID COILS BEING ADAPTED TO STRAIGHTEN WITHOUT STRETCHING AND THEREBY INCREASE THE EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF THE FILLING YARNS TO ALLOW THE TOWEL TO REMAIN UNAFFECTED BY DIFFERENT SHRINKAGE AND PUCKERING ALONG THE AFORESAID JUNCTURE WHEN THE TOWEL IS WET. 